


Got Milk?

by Alys0



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, eventually secret relationship, most likely a hella slow burn, the whole squad is in this eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2019-06-25 16:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15644655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alys0/pseuds/Alys0
Summary: Only 2% of soulmates meet the way Jake and Amy did, but they don't remember it at all. And just because they're soulmates doesn't mean they're in love. They're just Universe Approved best friends.Childhood best friends and soulmates au





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> This starts off in Karen's perspective but the end and the rest of the story will be in either Jake or Amy's perspective. Hope you guys enjoy it! And I hope it's not terribly boring.

Jake 3, Amy 3 months

 

Jake’s father was supposed to be Karen soulmate. 

Upon meeting him, she felt like her world had alighten and fallen apart at the same time; a feat no person had ever achieved in her life. She couldn’t help but shake that something about him was different. He strutted into the bar with his tight jeans and the most perfect hair she had ever seen. His eyes gleamed mischief and his smile screamed danger. He looked like every bad boy cliche in every movie she’d seen. When he sat next to her, it look all she had to hide her blush. Until finally, she lifted her head and her eyes met his. And at that moment, without expectation or warning, her heart felt like it was on fire. And to add to the feeling, she saw the tell-tale pale pink color flood the brown of his irises.

She made sure with all she had that Jake was spared from the screaming, crying, and commotion that lead to the inevitable divorce. She owed her life to Mrs. Luo from her Art class. In any hour of night or day, she always agreed to care for Jake whenever problems arose at home. The gift basket compiled of her most beautiful artwork was already packaged and ready to be delivered to that saint of a woman.

Today is different though. Jake isn’t the only one who needed a distraction, so Mrs. Luo was relieved of her duties. Roger is packing up his things back at their spanking new house and she’d rather not look him in the eye more than she had too. So instead, she put Jake in his Spiderman shoes, packed a backpack with his favorite toys, buckled him into his car seat, and off they were. 

“Jakey?” She peered into the rear view mirror to see him with peeked attention at her, dropping all his playing to listen.

“Yeah Mama?” he says in that sweet little voice that never failed to make her smile, even in the darkest of moments.

“Do you know what a soulmate is baby?” she asked. He adorably looked around to find an answer but when turned up with nothing said: “Uh uh.”

She’s not even sure where she’s going with this, or why she even brought it up. Her husband was probably the worst soulmate in the history of soulmates. Their pale pink irises did not tell the cinematic love story she’d prayed for her entire life. Nonetheless, she continued on.

“Well, for some people, the Universe has a special person destined just for them. Someone they promise will love them forever and ever.” Jake is uncharacteristically quiet while she speaks, usually by this point he’s an erupting well of questions, so much so she ends up forgetting what her point was. But right now, he just stares in rapt attention, and maybe she should pay more mind to this, but she shrugs it off. “And maybe, one day, you’ll find your soulmate, or maybe you don’t, and that’s okay. But if you find someone you love, whether it’s a soulmate or not, I want you to love them _ sooooo  _ much, with  _ aaaaaall  _ your heart. Just like I love you. You understand?”

“Yes, Mama!”

* * *

 

Even with his incessant energy, Jake was a good boy, and he never left his mother’s side in public unless he absolutely couldn’t stand it. Which, for a child, was pretty good. His mother didn’t have to always remind him to stay close or keep hold of her hand, he happily complied. So Karen was able to truly relax while they walked through Jake’s favorite part of Central Park. Jake caught sight of the bridge and yelled “Tower!”, tugging his mother’s hand towards it.

“No honey, that’s a bridge! That’s not a tower,” she laughs but it falls on deaf ears as he runs up to the peak of the bridge. It’s Jake’s favorite thing to look down at the water. In Karen’s opinion, it’s really nothing special. There are plenty other bridges and bodies of water in New York that she finds to be far more beautiful, but nothing is better than the glee on her son’s face at the fishies and the duckies swimming around for his attention. 

Roger is almost completely out of her mind since she’s focused all her attention on her squealing boy, jabbering miles a minute about the animals, critters, leaves, people, trees, and all things that could possibly catch his eye. 

“Mama, look,” Jake exclaims and his chubby legs take him in the direction of a squirrel. The park’s becoming more and more crowded as the day progresses, so when people threaten to obscure her view of Jake, she grows a little nervous. 

“Jake, baby, come back!” she calls out, and breathes a sigh of relief when a couple walks off to reveal him crouched down in front of the squirrel that so raptured his attention. One more call to him, he looks up and comes running when she beckons him with her hand. With Jake’s spirit, he doesn’t just run off, he sprints. It’s something they’ve been working on, trying to find other ways to release his energy. Usually this park is safe to run in the mornings, but it’s almost 11 o’clock and they’re cutting it close to lunch hour. When Jake is finally looking up at her, she puts on her best disciplinary face. 

“Jake, honey, what did I tell you about running off like that?” He frowns and pulls on his jacket sleeve; a nervous tick she noticed he’s developed just a few weeks prior when a drunken Roger came to the door with a woman at his heels. It… was not a good day for either of them. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. She sighs and rubs his hair in forgiveness. Today may be a nice day, but they really shouldn’t spend more time at the park. But she also really does not want to go home. She looks out beyond the bridge, cursing her now ex-husband for putting her in this situation. 

“How about some ice cream,” she looked down to Jake, but all she sees is the brick floor. She turns to her right, and she’s greeted with the same occurrence. She turns, looking around the bridge area, but he is nowhere in her line of vision. She calls out for him, but she gets no answer. Her heart clenches immediately. 

“Jake,” she calls out again, and behind a corner tree, behind an old man throwing cracker crumbs at a group of birds, she sees little red shoes disappear. Gripping tightly onto the strap of her bag, she takes off running in his direction. 

When she catches up, she sees Jake running faster than she’s ever seen him run before, almost with intent. This makes her a bit nervous, because the more he runs, the more she begins to lose him, and he’s running toward a busier section of the park. 

He stops suddenly. The tension in her shoulders and her chest lighten. She slows down a bit and studies her little boy, whose looking around back and forth in almost desperation, It suddenly comes to her that he’s never done this before. Yes, he runs off, but always returns when called. But not this time. As she gets closer, she notices a daze in his eyes. But before she can think much further of it, he sprints again.

“No! Wait!” But he’s gone. Disappeared behind crowds who hardly notice the boy. 

_ Oh god, please no.  _

“Jake!” She shoves people aside to get through, but there’s no sight of him. The yells of his name turn raspy and desperate. Every limb starts quivering in the fear of, oh my god, she lost her son. 

The people around have turned to her. The crazy lady screaming something unintelligible over and over. But that’s all they do. They just stare. She wants to scream at all of them, rip someone’s hair. Don’t they see she needs help? That she’s lost her son? No one seems to hear her, no one seems to understand. So she runs in the direction he ran in. She moves away from the large crowd and looks around in a frantic. 

She can’t possibly accept the idea that’s she’s lost him forever, but that anxiety threatens to overwhelm her. She asks around, but no one seems to have a seen a small boy with curls run by them. She reaches an area of the park that is practically empty. A few couples or small families are occupying the benches under the trees. Her chest begins to heave again and it’s only when she tastes salt she realizes she’s been crying.

“Excuse me?” a voice to her right says. A woman is sitting on a bench, one who definitely looks like an elementary teacher she’s worked with before. Her dark hair is in a sleek bun, her red lipstick a stark contrast to her tan skin, and she’s wearing a simple, modest dress. Despite this no nonsense appearance, she has gentle eyes. “Is he yours?” She notes the definite accent there before she tilts her head to see Jake with his face practically buried in the little stroller beside her. She lets out a choked noise at his red shoes and runs over to him, the woman practically forgotten. 

“Jake! How dare you run off that way! You scared me half to death!” Karen cried out, her body nearly collapsing within itself. Usually, when she scolds Jake, her energetic little boy will jump nearly two feet in the air and blabber a million words a minute to try and excuse his behavior. So it catches her by surprise when her reprimands are not acknowledge, he doesn’t even flinch. He’s just staring down into the little stroller in the same daze she noticed earlier. “Jacob Peralta, get over here right now.”

Color floods her cheeks at what the other woman sitting there must possibly be thinking. With a deep, exasperated sigh, and a sheepish glance towards her, she takes a hold of Jake’s sides and hoists him up. 

She didn’t expect the chaos following this though. Jake begins to scream, cry and kick against her hold, the baby in the stroller lets out a horrible wail, and the mother is quick with her gentle protests. In surprise, she releases her little boy, who quickly attaches himself to the baby once more. Her face is sure to reflect the stun that she feels, looking towards the woman who could possibly have the answers. What just happened here is not normal, not by a long shot. She briefly wonders what this lady could’ve possibly done to him. 

“Please, you can let him be,” she says softly. “My name is Camila.” Her name? Her son just kicked her in the ribs and pushed against her chest in a crazed fit, and she thought the most pressing concern right now is her name? Karen is too rattled to reply though, and the woman is far too calm for her liking. The woman,  _ Camila _ , takes a deep breath, as if preparing some disheartening news. And she can’t decide whether or not that tone matches her next words.

“I think our children may be soulmates.” 

Karen’s mind goes blank. She can’t… quite process what she just said. But… no… no this can’t be right. Soulmates? Soulmates…  _ soulmates _ . Oh my god.

Her heart seizes. The world seizes. She feels the sky crash down on her head and her only love being yanked from her gasp. Her son is only 3 years old! He just got potty trained, he can’t have a soulmate. Also, she has no idea where this Camila woman’s basis on this are. Her son has no celestial mark from where they touched and his irises don’t have a pink hue to them. Well, actually, she couldn’t be sure, Jake didn’t give her enough time to take a good look at him. 

“I think you’re mistaken. My son is way too young to have a soulmate,” she says, friendly but firmly. It would explain his strange behavior, his urgency and his focus. But she’s never heard of any of that being connected to soulmates.

“I can agree with you there that they are way,  _ way _ too young. But I don’t think I’m wrong. I think they may be something called Magnetic Soulmates, I learned about it in a documentary I saw,” Camila says, she motions for Karen to sit in the spot next to her, and there’s so much authority in the move that Karen plops herself down without consideration. “Two soulmates are physically attracted to each other like magnets and that attraction isn’t broken until they touch skin.” 

“No. No, those are incredibly rare, only 2% of soulmates are Magnetic.”

“Yes, but I do not doubt it has happened with our children,” Camila knew she needed more convincing so she took a deep breath. “See it from my perspective, Amy was sleeping peacefully after I walked our usual route with my three boys over there.” She gestures towards three almost identical looking boys circling each other with toy cars and wooden sticks they’ve claimed from the ground. She’d think they were triplets if it weren’t for the obvious age differences between them. 

“But then she started crying, which is very odd because it was not feeding time or changing time; and Amy is very precise in her schedule. I thought she was only startled but then, she started screaming! I’d never heard her scream like that before. I got so scared, I thought she was in pain. Until all of a sudden, I see your boy running to us and he looked at Amy before I could say anything. Immediately, she stopped crying. I knew, instantly, they were soulmates.” She looks to her son and the stroller, and it’s the first time she really looks at the tiny baby in there. She’s clad in a pink onesie and a little headband around her head, a clear and blaring sign she’s a baby girl. Her wide eyes are staring up at Jake, arms twitching and a smile coming and going. What surprises her though, is the way Jake is delicately, oh so gently, stroking her head, and whispering things she can’t hear. 

She’s right. 

She’s absolutely right.

Her son had found his soulmate… and on the day that hers was leaving them. Ha ha, what a cruel, cruel trick of fate. Speaking of Roger…

“I just don’t know how her father is going to handle the news,” Camila chuckled. Should Karen share this with Roger? She wants to, so badly. For 6 years she’s shared every moment of her life with him, every milestone and every crying fit. For 6 years, he’s all she’s had. But… no. She won’t share this with him. He decided to separate from their lives, and he’s at home right now enacting just that. So no, this new development is only for her… for now at least. 

“My name is Karen,” she finally says. “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

* * *

Jake felt her calling him. The feeling was so strong, so desperate, he  _ had _ to get to her. He had no idea who she was, but he could feel his little heart in his chest aching to reach her. And it was like a string was pulling him through the park. He didn’t know where he was going or how to stop, and he didn’t want to. He was pulled, almost against his will towards his siren call. And when he got to her, he felt so full he didn’t bother to ask any questions.

Her tiny face was all red like a big cherry, and her big eyes were full of tears. When she looked at him, he felt kind of okay, kind of still achy. He finally found who was calling to him, and who his heart was calling for, but it still wasn’t completely gone yet. And the farther he got from her, the suckier it felt. Someone tried to take him away from her, but it made his chest hurt a lot and he didn’t like it at all.

He got a really strong, uncontrollable urge to reach out and touch her. He doesn’t like touching babies because his mama always tells him he’s touching them too hard, and he doesn’t want to hurt her. But he can’t help it, he reaches his fingers out and strokes the spiky fuzz on top of her head as soft as he possibly could.

Instantly, he felt like when he’s filling up a water balloon, and it gets fuller, and fuller, and fuller, and it gets so full that it pops! But a good kind of pop, not the kind that gets water all over his pants. 

He already loves her so, so,  _ soooooo _ much. He doesn’t know why, but he does! And when her little lips spread into a smile, and he sees no teeth there, it makes him really happy. 

“Hello little baby, I’m Jake,” he whispers, because his mama said not to yell around babies because it scares them. “I like your bow, it’s very pretty.” She doesn’t reply, of course she doesn’t, she’s too little. 

“My mama said, babies grow up just like me. So when that happens, we’re gonna be the bestest friends!” Her arms flail out and she gives him another smile, it’s so funny that Jake gives her one of his own.

He didn’t like the last baby he met. Aunt Linda put his cousin Benjamin in his lap because he couldn’t say no, and he cried too loudly and pulled at his hair. But this one is awesome. She hasn’t done anything particularly awesome yet, but Jake knows it. She’s awesome. 

He also remember that with Bratty Benjamin, his mama made him kiss his head. He didn’t see why he had to, but did as he was told anyway. This time though, he really, actually wants to. So he stretches in, careful not to hurt her, and he stumbles a bit on his way there, but he manages to give her an audible Mwah! She gurgles and twitches in response, he takes that as a Thank You. 

“Jake?” He turns to look at his mama. She looks like she’s been crying, she’s been doing that a lot lately and he doesn’t like it. It makes him very sad. And he has a big feeling it’s because of Daddy, which makes him very mad. Why would he want to make Mama cry?

“Are you crying mama?”

“No, no Jakey I’m fine,” she says and wipes off the rest of her tears. “Do you know what her name is?” He shakes his head no. 

“Her name is Amy.” Amy? Aee-mee? He’s never heard that name before. It’s weird and his mouth feels awkward saying it, but he likes it. He likes it because it’s her name, and he already decided earlier that everything about her is awesome. He turns back to the baby in question, who still hasn’t looked away from him. He knows she probably doesn’t, but he has to ask anyway. 

“Do you like race cars?” Amy answers with a yawn, she finds them boring he guesses. Oh well, his dad told him that girls don’t like race cars, so he should’ve known. Amy’s hand reaches out, stretched towards him expectantly, and Jake gives her his own hand. She grips two of his fingers very tightly and hugs them to her. She’s still has his fingers cuddled against her when she dozes off.

That makes him very happy too.


	2. Jake 21, Amy 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the holidays in 2003 and one big demonstration of Jake and Amy's dynamic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took almost a year, yikes my bad. I'll start updating steadily now, I swear. Thank you to everyone to commented on my last chapter and gave a kudos. You guys are amazing and I love all of you

Jake 21, Amy 18

No one is entirely sure what it is, but it’s universally referred to as the capital ‘U’ Universe. It dictates many things, though there’s debate on exactly what those are and exactly how much. Do things occur on the Universe’s control? Do humans have free will? Is there a Universe at all and things just happen because they need to happen? Without a doubt though, Soulmates are an absolute of the things that the Universe does. No one knows exactly _why_ soulmates exist, just that they do. There are many religious explanations, conspiracy explanations, and very vague scientific explanations. But really no one knows why they happen or what they’re for. The only thing Amy knows for sure is that she has one, and he’s an idiot.

Four months ago, Amy began her first year of college, and it was _incredible._  None of the 13 years of public education she’s had could even compare to her first semester at NYU. Every lecture was taught by truly intelligent and blunt professors that opened her mind with what they had to say, and they provided no shortage of homework. Essays longer than Amy could ever have dreamt up, heart wrenching reading assignments, research projects, short responses, and the _tests_. She couldn’t believe the semester was almost over, it’s true what they say, time flies when you’re having fun.

But it’s not over yet, she has one more final exam in two days and then she gets to go home for the holidays. Even though her childhood house was only 30 minutes away, her scholarship required her to dorm to which she was very grateful for. It’s so much easier studying outside her full house and she loves experiencing that small independence, but also getting to go home whenever she needed to.

Usually on Wednesday afternoons, Kylie would cook dinner on their illegal double burner hot plate while Amy watches and take notes. But today, Kylie had a family emergency that took her back to Connecticut, and it gave her the perfect opportunity for Amy to cook for herself. So, after a quick trip to the store and a glance at the instructions, she set off on her mission to make the easiest and most sufficient meal: rice and beans.

One small pot of rice boiled on one burner while she prepared the beans. She couldn’t mess this up, all she had to pour the can of beans into the pot and heat it up. This was looking pretty good, she felt confident and proud that she was doing what she has never been able to do.

The shriek of her hand me down Nokia phone pulled her out of her daydream of teaching an audience how to make the perfect rice and beans in her future successful cooking. She quickly grabbed it and quieted it by pressed the answer button. She sat on her bed while she greeted the person on the other end.

“Amy Santiago!” Comes the energetic voice over the line. That’s all he’s said so far and Amy already huffs at him.

“Hey Jake, did you sense me moving around or something? You can’t call me every time I go somewhere,” she chuckled.

For as long as they can remember, they can sense in which direction the other is at and how close. As they grew, it became sharper and more exact. It was like they had a built in compass inside them that lead to each other. A lot of times, it came in handy. There really was no need to make a plan on where to meet or how to find each other, they always met in the middle. When Jake would sometimes join the Santiagos on a trip, they would make sure each of them were in with each group if the family decide to split up, so there would be no problem meeting up later. Amy always hated it when they did that.

And because the Compass senses when the other is near, they even have an ongoing game to see if they can defy the Compass and sneak up on each other. So far, it hasn’t worked.

“It’s intriguing though! For the past several hours you were at the left of my left wall, and then you scooted slightly more to the left and now you’re back in the original spot again. You can’t blame a soulmate for being curious.”

“I can blame a soulmate for being nosy.”

“Attentiveness?” Jake said.

“Nope.”

“Worry?”

“Try again.”

“Fine! I wanted to know because I have a deep and absolute devotion to you.” Amy rolls her eyes and lays back on her bed, staring up at the stain on her ceiling. She hears a thump and couple swears from Jake. No surprise, he’s a big ball of energy and has always been prone to injury. Speaking of…

“Do you need something Jake? Or are you just being annoying?” Amy asks.

“I’m mostly just annoying you, but there is a bone I need to pick with you.” He grunts, which is followed by a screech.

“What are you doing?” Really, she probably shouldn’t ask, and she already knows she definitely does not want an answer.

“What are _you_ doing,” Jake mocks like the child he is.

“Jake,” she grits through her teeth, mostly playfully but he’s alway known how to push her buttons.

“I’m kidding, don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“Don’t talk about my panties.”

“Got it. Anyway, I’m looking for the GameCube controller before Tony kills me for losing it,” he says, followed by more rustling.

“Oof, yeah you should. Tony said living with you is like living with a raccoon,” she says.

“Yeah, he’s not wrong. I feel kind of bad,” his voice takes a slight dip before he clears his throat and changes his tone again. Yeah, he’s never been good with feelings. “Anyway, what are you doing?”

She hesitates for a moment before she responds with a simple “Cooking.” keeping her voice as nonchalant as possible.

“Kylie’s cooking?” he asks and Amy feels a slight irritation at his tone.

“No, I’m cooking. Rice and beans,” she says, her voice faltering slightly. He laughs a bit and she can't help but bristle.

“Ames, last time you made beans for us it was like biting into an onion,” he teases.

“Didn’t you have a bone to pick with me?” She asks quickly to change the subject, she doesn’t need him to discourage her right now in her learning process. Thankfully it’s enough to snap his finger and change the subject.

“I hear that you… Amalia Santiago…,” she hates when he does this. “Have a boyfriend.”

And that’s definitely not what she expected him to say, and it takes her a minute to process the words. She gets an immediate sizzle of anxiety through her and swallows the lump in her throat that forms. She thought she had been careful to keep it a secret from her family in the weeks she’s had a boyfriend, she curses the stupid Universe for making it bite her in the ass.

“How did you find out about that?” she asks with the slightest bit of anxiety in her.

“I asked you first,” Jake teases and exaggerates his scandalized voice.

“You didn’t ask a question! You just accused me! Seriously Jake, how did you find out?.” Jake’s voice actually softened though when he realized that this was very serious to her, that she wasn’t playing around.

“Look, I’m sorry. Don’t be mad. I promise I won’t tell anyone until you’re ready. I didn’t realize you were keeping it a _secret_ secret,” Jake said, with guilt and a bit of disappointed laced in his tone. One thing she was grateful Jake understands, that no one else seems to, was that it was best to let Amy do life at her own pace. If she wasn’t ready to talk or participate, he let her take her time.

“It’s okay, I trust you. Just… don’t tell anyone. Please for the love of god, _do not_ tell Antonio. He’s a little shithead,” Amy grumbles, anytime she tried to confide in Jake when they were way younger, Tony would know in five minutes. He’s more trustworthy now that he’s older but still, she’s paranoid.

“Amy, I promise I won’t,” he said. “Why keep it a secret anyway?” Amy sighs deeply and she tries to push down any feelings of guilt that threatens to bubble up.

“It’s just that… I’m nervous about telling my family. Not only will they tease me but you know I’ve always been a private person, talking about crushes and boyfriends to them makes me feel awkward.” Jake hums his understanding. “Plus, we’ve only been dating for a few weeks and who knows if it’s even worth telling everyone.”

“Yeah, I should’ve guessed. I promise no one will know until you tell them alright?” His tone is genuine, contrasting his perpetual goofiness. But knowing Jake, that hardly ever lasts longer than a few minutes. “You should bring him for Christmas, I’d love to meet him.”

“Ha! Yeah right, you’re not meeting him until at least three months, and that’s only if you can behave yourself,” she says.

“New Years, then.”

“You’re incorrigible,” she rolls her eyes.

“So… what’s his name?” He sing songs a bit and just like that, his teasing is back in full force. Amy groans and she feels that gross, embarrassed tingle in the back of her neck. She rubs at it with her fingers and grimaces, but she clears her throat to mask it. Jake knows her well enough though to see through it though, soulmates and all.

“His name is Benjamin,” Amy states clearly and with faux confidence. Jake doesn’t say anything on the other end of the line for a moment and Amy cringes at what she _knows_ is a mocking silence. After a couple seconds, he snorts.

“Benjamin?” Of course he finds it funny, it’s Jake for crying out loud.

“What’s wrong with Benjamin? That’s a very respectable name!”

“Benjamin is the dorkiest name in existence! Where’d you meet him? The engineering section of the library?” Geez, she sure did meet him in the engineering section of the library. Her silence is telling too, because his belly laugh gets the tips of her ears warm.

“You really like the guy?” he asks before she can yell at him.

“Yeah,” her voice squeaks the word, and it’s unconvincing even to her own ears.

“Wuh oh,” he says in response.

“No, I mean… he’s great. He’s really sweet and we like all the same things it’s just… he can be a little humble braggy? A little stubborn... I don’t know, nevermind. It’s just a little blip, I’ll figure it out.” A whiff of something tickles at her nose and she smells the air a bit until she recognizes the smell of burning. She frowns in confusion before it hits her. She gasps and jumps off the bed, nearly face planting and dropping her phone in the process.

“My food!” she yells out and runs over to the hot plate. The phone clatters when she drops it on her desk and she can still hear Jake’s cackles from there. She quickly turns off the heat and inspects the food with the spoon she was using. The beans have dried up and the edges of the rice have blackened. It’s completely ruined. She should’ve expected it. She’s lucky she caught it before the fire alarm went off. Kylie would’ve killed her if she got their hot plate taken away by the RA.

Her shoulders drop and she rubs her forehead in disappointed. Cooking just really will never be her thing. She shamefully walks over to the phone and puts it to her ear.

“I burnt it,” she simply says. Jake’s gives one last chuckle, and she wants to be mad at him for laughing at her, but his lack of maliciousness stopped that from happening.

“Did you want me to bring you food?”

“Yes, please.”

* * *

 

“Hey, Santiagos! I’m ready to party,” Jake exclaims when he walks into the home. In all the years in which he’s known the Santiagos, the house that they’ve lived in has hardly changed at all. If he had no idea who lived there, he would have imagined a Latin grandmother on her deathbed. But no, it was a big family at its prime, and when you meet them it all makes sense.

The only people who hears his announcements are Victor Santiago, who was walking toward the kitchen, and Amy’s brother Eddy, whose eyes are glued to the television.

“Peralta, I didn’t expect to see you for New Years,” Victor pauses to say.

“Yup, I didn’t either.”

“You can thank Tony and I for dragging him out of his pig pen for the day,” Amy says as she passed by them to enter the kitchen to join her mother. Jake had the plan to spend New Years with his mother when she called him to say she had going to work all night. He retired to stay home and ring in 2004 with some mayo nut spoonsies. When Amy and Tony caught wind of it, they ambushed him at the apartment and forced him to join them despite his claims to not want to impose. Even he knows it was a dumb and weak excuse, he’s spent plenty of New Years with the Santiagos.

“Ah Jake, what have I told you about keeping a clean home,” Victor asks. Jake sighs but refrains from rolling his eyes.

“Something in Spanish, I don’t know,” Jake shrugs but Victor’s pointed look makes him break his resolve.

“Something about roaches eating me… be clean or die a failure? I don’t know, I promise I’ll clean my apartment.”

“Lies,” Tony whispers to his roommate and receives a playful glare from him. Jake barely takes another two steps into the home before he’s being pulled into a hug by a woman in a tight bun, a tweed blazer, and a dirtied apron.

“Ay Jake, I’ve missed you. You never come visit us anymore,” Camila says with a hand on his cheek.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just been so busy with working to raise money for the Academy,” Jake says and squeezes her hand, offering her a genuine smile.

“I told you, we can help pay for any expenses you need,” she says but Jake knows that’s not exactly true. They have enough children to pay for, most of them having gone or going into the Academy themselves. Jake knows that if he asked they’d help in a heartbeat, but he could never do that to them.

“Thank you, but really I can do this,” Jake says.

“If you’re sure,” she says, but pulls on his arm and leads him into their kitchen where she’s cooking dinner for tonight. There’s boiling pots and bowls and utensils littered everywhere in the kitchen and Amy is peeking into one of the biggest pots on the stove, her bag, jacket, and shoes abandoned neatly on a chair.

“Ah ah ah!” Amy leaps away from the stove at her mother’s outburst. “Out! You know the rule. Away! Away! Shoo!” Camila pushes her away from the food and Amy backs up to the island.

“What?” Amy says with her hands up in surrender and Jake snickers.

“You are banned from the kitchen remember? I don’t want you messing anything up, I’ve been working since the morning,” she says. Amy frowns and fiddles with the collar of her button down, a blush forming on the tips of her ears.

“Yeah Amy, get your cursed hands away from the food,” Jake teases and she only responds with a glare. He sits next to Amy on the island and answers all the questions Camila throws at the two of them.

“Amy, como fueron tus examenes?” Ooh, he actually understood that.

“Oh my god, my Final exams were _so_ awesome. I had to write my first ten page paper about a religious site visit, totally killed it. I aced it _and_ the professor said it was the best in his class so… no big deal,” Amy smirked and flipped a lock of hair back. Jake shook his head and chuckled at her pride, he finds it very endearing. Her mother responds but Amy pulls out her phone to check a message and purses her lips. Jake senses a bit of uncomfortableness growing in her and he can’t help but toward her ear.

“My Soulmate senses are tingling,” he whispers.

“What?” she asks and shoves the phone back in her pocket.

“Is it the-” he hums in suggestion “-again? Are they bothering you?”

“No, it’s just-” Amy’s phone shrills before she can say anymore and she sighs. “Excuse me.” She walks out the kitchen and toward the direction of her room, putting her phone to her ear as she does so.

“So,” Camila brings Jake’s attention back to her. And the suggestiveness she’s speaking with promises something really awkward that it has Jake’s arm hair stand at attention. “You and Amy are grown now. You’re ages have almost leveled.”

“Umm,” he says nervously, a bemused laugh escapes him at her ambiguity. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just… don’t tell Amy I’m asking but… you’re very good friends… you two are soulmates… and you know they say Magnetic soulmates are the strongest connection form.” Oh no. “Have you ever considered… do you have feelings for her?” Oh god. “Romantically?”

Jake is genuinely taken back by this question. It’s not that it’s the first time they’ve been asked this question. They’ve heard it their entire lives. But their parents have always reminded them that soulmates are not inherently romantic, even though the world forces that stigma onto it. They’ve never ever tried putting an idea into their heads that their connection had to be anything more than just that.  So to hear that coming from Camila right now, he’s caught off guard. He itches the back of his neck, trying to refrain from sputtering.

“Well… I… n-no. No, I’ve… no, absolutely not,” he stutters. Camila puts her hands up and shrugs.

“I’m only asking, you two are finally at that age. Victor and I got married around your age, so-”

“No, we are not… no,” Jake says, clearing the lump in his throat. Amy is his soulmate, yes, but… she’s just a kid. When he looks at her he sees her hair in lopsided pigtails pretending to shoot her teddy bear in a beanie ski mask using a makeshift gun that’s actually a barbie bent at an angle. He doesn’t see her… that way. And he’s never thought he would have to explain that to _their parents_ of all people.

“I’m sorry, I just had to ask. You should see your face, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she quips, and Jake tries to compose his features again. Amy returns from where she’s been, looking like she’s seen a ghost of her own. At first he thinks she overheard their conversation but she’s gripping her cellphone in a way that suggests she didn’t.

“Hey Mom,” she asks. “Um, can a friend of mine join us tonight for New Years? Um, he has no where else to go and well… he doesn’t want to be alone,” she says, and he doesn’t miss the grimace she makes at the prospect.

“Of course. Entre mas, mejor,” she says and excuses herself out. Amy sits back on the stool beside him and drops her head onto the table.

“Is it the boyfriend?” She nods against the table. “Why don’t you seem happy about it?”

“No, it’s _fine._ He just… he just doesn’t seem to listen to me when I talk. He’s very stubborn and doesn’t take a hint.” She sits back up and picks at her cuticles.

“Sounds like an ass,” he says.

“No, no, he’s a very good guy. He once bought me pens of various colors for my student planner, one pen for each one of my classes.”

“Dreamboat.”

“I told him I was going to be with my family but he keeps texting me, and now he’s invited himself over for New Years Eve. I tried to say no but, he kept deflecting to the point where I ran out of excuses,” she says.

“Wait, he invited himself? Even after you said no?” Amy detects the displeasure in his voice and jumps to defense.

“Don’t make this into something it’s not. I’m fine with him coming. I haven’t seen him in a while and I… I’ve missed him I guess,” she sounds unsure, and Jake still senses uncomfortableness coming off of her, but he lets it go. He doesn’t want to push her too hard, sounds like she’s going to need a ally tonight since he’s the only one who knows about The Boyfriend being The Boyfriend.

“What time is it? I should go get ready,” she says and leaves him alone in the kitchen.

Dinner was planned to start at nine. All the older brothers have finally arrived home with their SO’s if they have one, and the younger brothers are dressed their best. The house is filled with chatter and rough housing, there’s music playing loudly in the background, and the TV is on the channel showing Time Square. Jake wasn’t given time to dress nice, thanks to being dragged out of his apartment so to compensate, he was given one of David’s button downs and ties, which look wildly out of place with his light blue jeans.

The doorbell rings exactly at 8:45 on the dot, early but not too early.

“I’ll get it!” Amy rushes to the door before her mother could stand and opens the door a little. Jake cranes his neck from his spot on the couch to see a glimpse of The Boyfriend.

“Come on in,” she stepped aside to let the guy in and Jake almost cackles at the sight. The guy has gotta be the dorkiest dude he’s ever seem. He’s got on oval glasses and a sweater vest, and not in the cute way. His shoulders are tense and even though he’s smiling kindly, his eyes are blank.

Oh Amy…

“Everyone, this is my friend Benjamin,” Amy announces with a grimace. One by one, each Santiago greet him politely, thanking him for joining them on New Years. Benjamin responses are short and businesslike… he is not someone he would’ve expected for Amy. Nerdy, sure, but this guy’s got an air of false humility that rubs him the wrong way. He must not be the only one who feels this way, because when Tony walks back to the couch after greeting him, he looks at him with stifled laughter. He raises his eyebrows once as if to say “look at this guy”.

Jake stands for his turn to greet the guest, not really out of politeness, mostly for the opportunity to mess with them. Amy gives him a warning look. Jake responds with a cheeky smile and offers him an exaggerated handshake.

“How do ya do, man?” Jake says and -- Wow, his handshake is _firm_.  “I’m sure you’ve heard all about me. I am the famous Jake Peralta, Amy’s magnet.”

“Magnet?” Benjamin asks. He misses Amy’s frantic head shakes and continues.

“Yup, I’m little ol’ Amalia’s soulmate, nice to meet ya,” he says. He hears the call of his name and he turns to see Manny and Tony holding a bag of almonds, Tony’s arm poised to throw one. He gets the cue to open his mouth and an almond lands on his tongue. They give a celebratory shout and he walks toward them to continue the game. He also misses the shocked faces from both Benjamin and Amy.

10 minutes later, Camila announces dinner and all the Santiago’s convive at the perfectly set dinner table. Jake and Eddy are in a heated conversation about whether or not Die Hard could be considered a Christmas movie (Eddy thinks it’s not because, though it may be set around Christmas, in order for something to be a Christmas movie, it has to be the central theme of the movie. Jake calls bullshit.) He takes a seat across from Amy so he can have a front row seat at the absolute train wreck that that whole thing is going to definitely end up being. But the seat that was added last minute next to Amy is empty, and though she has a smile on her face she can’t hide her emotions from him. Sadness and embarrassment.

“Tenemos que orar,” Camila announces. ‘We have to’…Crap, Jake forgot. He turns to his left at Tony.

“Pray,” Tony whispers. Right, pray. He’ll remember that (he won’t). Enrique argues with his mother about the necessity of praying “we haven’t even been to church in years”, but instead of listening to all that he looks at Amy, his eyebrows furrowed. But she shakes her head, not right now.

Whatever happened, it wasn’t good, if the emotions his Soulmate Superpower  is any indication.

“Enrique, we are praying _y ya!_ ” Camila says and the rest of the table immediately grab each others hands at her firmness. The matriarch mumbles a prayer in Spanish that is too fast for Jake to even try to understand, and he’s too concerned about Amy’s wellbeing anyway. He opens one eye to sneak a peek at the girl across from him, but her head is dutifully down and her eyes are shut. Soon after, the table has said Amen and there is nothing keeping them from tearing into the feast. Jake uses this distraction to slide into the empty chair next to Amy.

“Hey Amy, what happened to dorkus malorkus,” Jake teases in an attempt to lighten the mood, but it only seems to sour it more. Amy shoots him a glare in return. But, ever the composed, Amy simply pours soda into her cup and takes a sip.

“He remembered that his grandmother had a nice evening planned for his family and went over there instead,” Amy says, a bit too casually.

“Bah humbug,” he says.

“Look, we can’t talk about this right now and there’s nothing you can do,” Amy grits through her teeth.

Jake wants to do what she says and let it go, but he can’t. Clearly, whatever happened when he was too busy trashing the living room with almonds is bothering her, and he would hate for that to ruin her holiday. Plus, she was so close to spending it with her boyfriend after not seeing him for a few weeks, and he would also hate for that to be lost because of a problem of some sort. If only he could pull Amy aside without the family noticing, but it would take a certain level of distraction for them to get away with that.

Like if he had told the family that Tony-....

Perfect. Forgive him, brother.

“Hey Tony!” He says loudly enough for the whole table to hear. “Have you paid off your 3 traffic tickets?”

Immediately, the table is ignited. The parents yell out thwarted shouts and questions, there’s laughter and teasing “ooooh”s coming from the brothers, and poor Tony looks like a deer caught in headlights. He’s going to be furious about this later, but Jake’ll deal with it then.

Now’s his chance. Jake grabs Amy’s arm, which pulls her out of her surprised reverie, and drags her into the living room.

“What are you doing?” Amy asks.

“Don’t worry, that’ll buy us at least twenty minutes,” Jake whispers.

“I can’t believe Tony got three traffic tickets,” Amy says, more to herself than to him.

“It’s okay, it was only one and it’s almost paid off already.”

“Huh?”

“I said that so that you can tell me what’s wrong,” Jake says while they can hear Victor’s voice shout clear as day “Santiagos do not get traffic tickets, Antonio!” and a follow up, “Will you just _listen_ to me dad?”

There’s frustration and dread coming off Amy in waves, but her shoulders drop and she sighs in defeat.

“Fine. Benjamin and I had an argument and he went home,” she says but that’s not all of it, he’s sure. Her eyes keep shifting around and she’s cracking her knuckles, a nervous tick of hers.

“About what? Is it because your Dad’s bookshelf is alphabetized by title instead of author?”

“No. But that is insane, I’ve been telling him to fix it for years.”

“Then what was it about?” Jake says, expressing all jokes aside. The chaos in the dining room is winding down and they need to hurry this up so they can slide back in unnoticed.

“It was about… soulmates.” Amy clears her throat and cringes. Oh man, Jake doesn’t like where this is going, nonetheless he signals for her to continue. “I didn’t tell him I had one.”

Jake furrows his eyebrows. Why is she so nervous to tell him that? This wouldn’t be the first time they kept each other’s connection on the down low, waited until a specific point to tell someone new. He had no idea she would ever want to keep that from a boyfriend though, very un-Santiago to be dishonest in a new relationship. He assumed enough that he even introduced himself as Amy’s magnet.

It finally hits him, what caused the fight, what made him leave shortly after he came. It was _his_ fault.

“Oh nooooooooooooooo-” Amy only glares at him. “-oooooooooooooooooo-”

Amy’s hand slaps over his mouth to stop him.

“I hate when you do that. Look, it’s fine. I’ll call him tomorrow to get everything straightened out,” Amy says.

“No. Let me call him to straighten it out,” he suggests.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“No, seriously, let me. It’s my fault this happened and I want to help. Give me your phone, I’ll call him,” he says. Amy debates it within herself for a moment, before pulling her phone out and hands it to him.

“If anyone asks, I’ll tell them you’re in the bathroom,” Amy gives him a thankful smile and walks back into the dining room. Jake looks down at her 5190 and finds Benjamin in her contacts. He doesn’t expect him to pick up right away, he’s hoping to at least exhaust him into answering. But after a couple rings he hears his nerdy “Benjamin Cofe speaking.” Guess he’s one for the dramatics.

“Hey Benny, it’s Jake,” he practically chirps.

“Amy’s soulmate?”

“Yes siree.”

“Oh, uh… hi?” Benjamin’s tone sounds a bit snarky. He doesn’t like that. But Jake shrugs it off and continues on, the whole point is to fix the situation, not make it worse. He also calms the playfulness and goes with something a little more serious. Benjamin doesn’t strike him as the funny type.

“Hey listen, Amy told me a little about what happened and I felt like I needed to explain ourselves.”

“She already told me you guys aren’t together,” he says but it’s laced with a bitterness that makes him think that he doesn’t quite believe it to be true.

“Yeah, but there’s more to it,” Jake says. “Amy and I became soulmates at a very young age… like, we were _babies_ type young. We grew up together and we are pretty close but that’s all it is. Our magnet brains make us different from other people but that doesn’t make it romantic. She’s like… a pet cat. I don’t know, bad example, the point is if you’re going to break up with her it should be because she puts onions and bell peppers on her pizza like a crappin’ maniac, not because she didn’t tell you about her soulmate. We’ve always been very private about it, and now you can see why.”

“Thank you for telling me,” he says flatly, like Jake hadn’t given a spiel worth at least a letter’s worth of response. Benjamin doesn’t even continue, he apparently just decided the conversation was over.

“B’uuuuuh okay. Glad we cleared that up,” Jake says.

“May I speak with Amy?” Bleh, he’s so professional you’d think he was talking to one of his employees. However, Jake agrees and walks into the dining room. The family seems to have considerably calmed and are back to eating their food as though nothing was amiss. The only sign of there having been a commotion is Tony pursed mouth and fiery eyes looking down at his bowl. He’s a lot more upset than Jake had expected. There’s two more hours to midnight, he has to start off the year correctly.

“Amy, the phone’s for you,” he says as discreet as possible. Amy gives him a knowing and nervous look and takes the phone. Thanking him and excusing herself from the room and in the direction of her bedroom. Jake then focuses on his next mission.

“Tony, can I talk to you real quick?” Tony looks up with an angry frown that says he definitely doesn’t want to. But he sends him pleading puppy dog eyes that has Tony rolling his eyes and standing from his chair. Jake tried to keep the discretion but he should’ve known better than to think it would’ve lasted that long.

“Wait, wait, adonde van? There’s too many people getting up and sitting down, sit down and eat,” Victor says waving his spoon at them.

“Yes, I’m sorry. Give us two second, it’s about… our landlord… he died,” Jake stammers and doesn’t wait for any response and quickly heads to the living room, expecting Tony to follow. When Tony reaches him, he doesn’t hesitate to yell at him, but as softly as possible .

“What the hell was that man?” Tony gesticulates wildly. “Why did you announce to everyone I had three traffic tickets? I would never be so irresponsible as to get caught breaking the law three times. Unlike your horrendous driving,-”

“Ouch. Deserved that.”

“-my driving instructor said it was the best example of driving she’s ever seen in her 20 years of working there. The one, _one_ traffic ticket that I got was a whole misunderstanding and that cop was completely out of line.” Tony gathers himself with a few breaths of silence, with a incredulous look at Jake’s previous actions. “I mean, what even was that?”

“Look man, I’m sorry. It’s just that Amy was having trouble-”

Tony cuts him off with an bitter, incredulous laugh and shook his head.

“What?”

“Of course it was,” Tony scoffs.

“What do you mean?” Irritation is beginning to bubble up within Jake at his ‘tude, threatening to boil over.

“Of _course_ it’s about Amy. You always do this man. Ever since we were little kids you would always throw the rest of us under the bus in order to protect Amy.”

Jake blinks in surprise at this accusation. Tony’s never alluded to anything like that this before, and he has absolutely no recollection of ever doing this before today.

“What are you talking about? I have never done that to any of you,” he says defensively.

“Remember when we were kids and Amy got her first bad grade and to distract mom from seeing it you ratted me out for getting detention?”

Oh man, he remembers that now.

“Or how about when Amy broke the window and you told my dad that it was _my_ baseball bat so that hers wouldn’t be taken away.”

Yeah, he did that.

“Or how about when Amy broke grandma’s antique china from Cuba and you made us take the blame for it even though we weren’t even there. Or how you always blamed the twins everytime Amy farted.”

“Okay, in my defense on that, Eddy and Kike are gassy boys so it’s totally believable.” But Jake sees what he’s saying, and he has to admit to himself that he’s guilty of all of that.

Woah, he never realized the extent he went to protect Amy, or that he was protective of Amy at all. But right now all he feels is guilt and shame as he realizes how he’s hurt Tony, maybe even the rest of the brothers, for pitting them against Amy like that.

“I understand that you’re connected and you kind of can’t help it. But, the next time that you decide to go all soulmate heroic for Amy, leave us out of it,” Tony finishes, and Jake releases a huge exhale.

“I didn’t realize that I used to do that to all of you, I’m really sorry. Not only for the past but for what just happened with the traffic tickets. I’ll explain everything to your dad and I’ll clean the bathroom toilet at the apartment for a month,” Jake says thick with sincerity. Jake knows he’s got to him when he gives a small side smile and lightly kicks at the air.

“It’s alright man. I mean, I’m still a little mad, but I forgive you,” Tony says. Too much emotion and feelings happened at one time so the two guys awkwardly cough to release the tension in the air.

“Aye! What are you guys doing? Vengan a comer!” Camila calls to them and they snap at attention and return to their seats. The food on Jake’s plate is a bit cold at this point but he doesn’t complain. If the food is truly good, you can eat it cold. He’s finally situates himself in his seat and he looks to Amy who just finished ranting about the terrible, paperlike quality of NYU bookmarks. She looks fine, nonchalant, like she totally isn’t having secret boy trouble. And when he concentrates to her emotions, she _is_ fine even if a bit sad.

“Is he coming back?” he whispers to her.

“No,” she answers, and that all she offers him before moving on with the party.

They finish eating dinner and congregate to the living room for dessert and to wait for the Ball Drop. He’s given a slice of the cake roll Camila makes every year, Brazo Gitano. “Gypsy Arm” Camila explains and giggles at the ridiculous name. It’s delicious and he’s downing a second serving in less than 5 minutes.

There’s only two couches and chair in the living room so the younger ones have to sit on pillows on the floor to make room for Jose and Manny’s girlfriends. Eddy, Enrique, and Luis don’t pay attention to the TV as much as they’re fighting over the newest Gameboy Advance they got for Christmas. One game console for the 3 youngest to share was a recipe for disaster. He gets to sit on a couch though because he’s an _adult_. Amy on his right and David on his left, they’re crammed on the little thing because Amy insists she wants her feet curled up.

“Hey, so what happened with Benjamin,” Jake whispers to her.

“No good. It’s donezo,” she admits.

“Wait why? But I gave him a great speech! He didn’t forgive you?”

“No, he did forgive me. You’re speech really helped him to understand, it’s just… I don’t know. He was still being really weird about it,” Amy says.

“About my speech or soulmates?”

“Soulmates, butthead. He kept worrying that we were in love and that we were destined to be together. He wasn’t ‘comfortable’ with having competition,” she shudders.

“Ew,” Jake chimes in.

“I was like, that is a very archaic way of viewing soulmates. There is no proof scientifically or spiritually that soulmates are or ever have been inherently romantic at all.” Jake’s heard this rant many times before whenever someone accuses them of being in love. It helps her though, seems to make her feel better. “No one really knows what soulmates _actually_ mean or determine. Saying that soulmates are inherently romantic is incredibly oppression and puts unnecessary pressure on a pair to build something that may not be there at all. There are plenty of soulmates who never fall in love, or get married, or anything like that. For him to put that kind of pressure on me was unfair and totally uncool.”

“Damn Amy, you told him that?”

“No… it’s what I wish I would’ve thought to say when we were arguing,” Amy says. “Anyway, we broke up after that because he said he just didn’t feel comfortable with it.”

“Are you okay though?” Jake asks gently.There have been several relationships or potential relationships in the past that have been ruined after finding out he had a soulmate. It’s a frustrating downside of it, some people can’t look past the stigma of romance no matter how hard they prove otherwise.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t think I really liked him that much… he was kind of annoying,” she says. “I’m still a little sad, but it’s more the principle of the break up rather than the actual break up itself.” Jake still puts his arm around her and pulls her into a quick hug.

“That’s good. He is not worth any emotions. That dude was a straight up dud,” he says. Amy snorts and punches him in the arm, although she’s laughing too.

“He really was though, wasn’t he.”

As the clock strikes 11:59, they count down to midnight and happily greet 2004. He’s thankful that Amy and Tony brought him over for their celebration. He thought he had no family he could spend it with, but he _does_.

He’s got 7 brothers and a soulmate here with open arms, and he’s happy he gets to jam on with them.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, please, please comment what you think! It will give the confidence and motivation to continue on with the story and as quickly as possible. Thanks guys!


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